Universal parenting program designed to promote positive parenting and prevent child maltreatment by fostering knowledge and skills that change or improve parenting practices.
The Evidence Summaries presented on this site were drawn from the best available evidence of the program’s effectiveness from this review. It does not necessarily reflect all the evidence about the program. The research was selected and assessed for inclusion on the Menu and towards the evidence rating because it met selection criteria related to the specific topic area, study design, quality assessment and the outcomes of interest.
Overview
Evidence Rating
Pathway
- Early help
Australian Study
Risk of Bias
Cost
Target Age Group
About
The Adults and Children Together (ACT) Raising Safe Kids program aims to strengthen families and improve or change parenting skills and practices to prevent child maltreatment. The program seeks to establish partnerships with a variety of organisations and agencies and train professionals to take the program to families and caregivers in their communities. The program promotes community support and serves as a complement to existing interventions for children at high risk for maltreatment.
ACT Raising Safe Kids is designed to be a universal approach to help groups of parents and caregivers from all backgrounds regardless of their risk level. It is also designed to be flexible so that a variety of community-based institutions and organisations can implement the program and integrate it into existing interventions and services for parents.
Aims
- Educate parents and caregivers of young children to create safe, stable, nurturing relationships and environments that prevent child maltreatment; protect children and youth from long-term consequences of maltreatment
- Provide research-based knowledge, tools, and skills for effective parenting practices
- Provide a supportive, nonjudgmental, interactive, and fun environment for learning and sharing to occur; to nurture and promote the development of social support networks among participants
- Educate parents and caregivers on how to act as supportive teachers, advocates and protectors of their children.
Impact
The evidence suggests that ACT program had negative effects for family functioning. Parents in the intervention group self-reported higher perceived family conflict after receiving the ACT program compared to the comparison group. Results were mixed for parenting and no effect was found for social support.
| Outcome domain | Outcome measured | Positive effect | No effect | Negative effect |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Family | Functioning | Not found | Not found | Yes |
| Parent/caregiver | Parenting | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Parent/caregiver | Social support | Not found | Yes | Not found |
How to read the table:
When ‘Yes’ is indicated for one of the three directions of effect, this means there is evidence of ‘positive’, ‘no effect’ or ‘negative effect’. Evidence is mixed and inconclusive when ‘Yes’ is indicated for two or more directions of effect. Further information about direction of effect can be found on the Using the Menu page.
ACT Raising Safe Kids has an evidence rating of Supported.
This means that ACT Raising Safe Kids has evidence from one randomised controlled trial (RCT) or quasi-experiment (QE) demonstrating positive, short-term impact on at least one child and family outcome.
This assessment is based on one research output of RCT design. ACT Raising Safe Kids has not received a Well-supported rating as it has not yet replicated its results in another RCT or QE with a different population or setting.
| Study design | Number of research outputs included |
|---|---|
| Systematic review with meta-analysis | Not identified or included |
| Randomised controlled trial | 1 |
| Quasi-experiment | Not identified or included |
The evidence has some concerns with risk of bias.
We can be reasonably confident about the results and the quality of evidence in the included study.
The study was conducted in the United States and does not include Aboriginal children and families.
Aboriginal knowledge and evidence is critical to recognise, document and share practices that lead to improved outcomes for Aboriginal children and families. The department is consulting with the Aboriginal community and stakeholders on how Aboriginal knowledge and evidence is defined and included on the Menu.
Location
- The study was conducted in the Chicago area and parent programming sites in Virginia and Wisconsin in the United States.
Sample characteristics
- 271 parents (162 intervention, 109 control) participated in the study.
- Participants were parents/caregivers over age 18, enrolled in designated programs across 3 participating agencies.
- Participants identified as Hispanic (65%), White (18%) and Black (11%).
Implementation
Delivery model, mode and setting
- ACT Raising Safe Kids is delivered in-person, to groups of parents and caregivers by ACT facilitators with support from other organisations.
- It is typically conducted in a hospital, outpatient clinic, community-based or school setting.
Target cohort
- Parents and caregivers of children birth to age 10, as well as pregnant mothers and their spouses or partners.
Program delivery
- The ACT curriculum is organised into 8 interactive group sessions:
- Understanding children’s behaviour
- Young children’s exposure to violence
- Anger management for parents
- Understanding and helping angry children
- Children and electronic media
- Discipline and parenting style
- Discipline for positive behaviours
- Take the ACT program with you.
- ACT Raising Safe Kids includes a homework component designed to advance understanding of the program content, reinforce learning and encourage practice of skills.
- There are fidelity measures for ACT Raising Safe Kids.
Duration and intensity
- ACT Raising Safe Kids involves 2-hour weekly sessions over 8 weeks.
Manuals and guides
- The ACT Parent Handbook includes sets of fact sheets with information on children's typical problem behaviours and outlines basic child development information. The handbook is available in English and in Spanish and includes handouts.
Additional information
- The American Psychological Association website has more information on the ACT Raising Safe Kids program.
Staffing
- ACT Facilitators are professionals with a minimum of an associate degree, but a bachelor’s degree is preferred. Previous experience conducting classes for groups of adults and class-management skills is expected. They are responsible for organising and conducting the ACT program 9 sessions/classes for groups of parents and caregivers of young children. They are trained at 2-day workshops conducted by ACT coordinators/master trainers in various sites throughout the U.S. and overseas.
- ACT Coordinators/Master Trainers are professionals with an advanced degree and/or have longstanding experience in conducting training for professionals and program management. The ACT coordinators/master trainers are responsible for organizing and conducting the two-day workshops in their communities or states to train and certify ACT facilitators – those who will conduct the parenting program groups. They attend invitational-only online training provided by the APA Violence Prevention Office once a year.
Training
- Training and certification of ACT Program Facilitators is completed through a 2-day, 16-hour workshop for professionals. The program certification process requires that after the initial training they implement the program for one group of parents and/or caregivers and submit recordings and documentation regarding the implementation of the program.
- Training and certification of ACT Coordinators to prepare them to conduct the ACT Facilitators 2-day workshops include participation in the initial 2-day training, certification as an ACT Facilitator, participation in the 3-hour online training and facilitation or co-facilitation of one workshop to train Facilitators.
To our knowledge, ACT Raising Safe Kids is not available and has not been implemented in Australia.
Cost
We were unable to locate any information on the cost of ACT Raising Safe Kids.
References
Studies identified and included in the review
- Portwood SG, Lambert RG, Abrams LP & Nelson EB (2011). An evaluation of the Adults and Children Together (ACT) Against Violence Parents Raising Safe Kids program. Journal of Primary Prevention, 32(3-4):147-60.
Studies identified but not counted towards the evidence rating due to study quality
- Knox MS, Burkhart K & Hunter KE (2011a). ACT Against Violence Parents Raising Safe Kids Program: Effects on Maltreatment-Related Parenting Behaviors and Beliefs. Journal of Family Issues, 32(1):55-74.
- Knox M, Burkhart K & Howe T (2011b). Effects of the ACT Raising Safe Kids Parenting Program on children’s externalizing problems. Family Relations, 60(4):491-503.
- Knox M, Burkhart K & Cromly A (2013). Supporting positive parenting in com-munity health centers: The ACT Raising Safe Kids program. Journal of Community Psychology, 1(4):395-407.
- van der Put CE, Assink M, Gubbels J & Boekhout van Solinge NF (2018). Identifying effective components of child maltreatment interventions: A meta analysis. Clinical Child and Family Psychology Review, 21(2):171-202